Russia in 1839 -Empire of the Czar: A Journey Through Eternal Russia

attempted self-destruction. The blade of his weapon did not penetrate very deep, but M. do Segur left Prussia.

This occurrence puzzled all the political heads in Europe: nothing could at that time account for the extreme ill-will of the king towards a man so distinguished both by his birth and talents. I have heard в 6

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from a very good source an anecdote, which throws some light on this hitherto incomprehensible circumstance. M. de Segur, at a time when in great favour with the Empress Catherine, had often amused himself by turning into ridicule the nephew of Frederick the Great, afterwards King Frederick William II.: he used to laugh at his love affairs, and even his person ; and, in accordance with the taste of the time, he had drawn satirical sketches of this prince, and of his favourites, which he had sent in a note to the Empress.

After the death of Frederick the Great, political circumstances having suddenly changed, the Empress a?iain sou<xht the alliance of Prussia, and in order more promptly to incline the new king to unite with her against France, she sent to him the note of M. de Segur, whom Louis XVI. had appointed ambassador at Berlin.

Another fact equally curious preceded the arrival of my father at the court of Prussia. It will serve to show the sympathy which the French revolution then excited in the civilised world.

The draught of the treaty of Pilnitz was about being framed, but the allied powers particularly desired to keep France in ignorance of its stipiuations as long as possible. The minutes of the treaty were already in the hands of the King of Prussia, and no French agent had as yet obtained any knowledge of them.

One evening, returning home late and on foot, M. de Segur observed an unknown person wrapped in a cloak, who appeared closely to follow him ; he quickened his pace, this person did the same ; he crossed

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the street, the other crossed with him ; he stopped, the mysterious stranger stopped likewise, at a short distance. M. de Segur, being without arms, and fearful that this rencontre might be connected with the personal ill-will of the king, began to run as he drew near to his own residence, but notwithstanding his haste, he could not prevent the pursuer from arriving at his door, just as it opened. He cast down at the feet of M. de Segur a roll of papers, and instantly disappeared. The latter, before picking them up, directed several of his people to follow this unknown individual, but they could not overtake him.

The papers contained the projet of the treaty of Pilnitz, copied word for word, in the cabinet of the Prussian king; and thus it was that France, aided by those who were secret converts to her new doctrines, attained the first information of this celebrated document.

Circumstances more powerful than the talents or the will of men, rendered futile the negotiations of my father with the Berlin cabinet; but notwithstanding the failure of his object, he obtained the esteem, and even the friendship, of all those with whom business brought him into contact, (not excepting the king and the ministers,) which indemnified him, personally, for the ill success of his political mission.

'When my father was about to return to his government to give an account of his negotiations, his mother-in- law, then a French refugee at the same court at which he represented France as minister, joined her entreaties to those of his other friends at Berlin, to induce him to change his intentions, forsake the con-

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stitutional cause, and remain among the emigres until a more favourable time for serving his country should arrive. These entreaties, though accompanied with the prediction of the evils that would await him on his return, and though the scenes of the l()th of August, the imprisonment of Louis XVI., and the frightful anarchy which reigned throughout France, had terrified all Europe, did not influence my father, or deter him from what he considered his duty to those who had employed him, and to whom he owed an account of his mission. True to the ancient motto of his house — ' Faits ce que dogs, adveigne quepourra*,' — and, in spite of the prayers of his friends, he departed for the country where the scaffold was preparing for him.

He found public affairs there in such disorder, as to induce him to renounce politics and join the army of the Rhine, commanded by his father, General Custinc. There he honourably served as volunteer in two campaigns, and when the General who had opened the road of conquest to our arms returned to Paris to die, his son accompanied him, to defend him, and to share his fate. It is the diplomatic correspondence of my father, during the period of his mission at the court of Berlin, that our present Prussian minister has kindly permitted me to peruse.

These letters are admirable models of diplomatic style. The maturity of mental power, the justice, yet determined energy of character, the extent of information, the clearness and precision of thought which they evince, are really extraordinary, when the age of

* Do tby duty, let come what will.

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the writer is considered. M. de Noailles, who was at the time French ambassador at Vienna, expressed in letters (also preserved in our archives at Berlin) sentiments the most flattering to the new diplomatist, to whom he predicted a brilliant career. Little did he imagine how short that career would be ! !

The death which my father sought and met in Paris under the influence of a sense of duty, was attended with a circumstance, unknown to the public, that in my opinion invests it with a character of sublimity. The circumstance deserves to be recited at length ; but as my other parent will occupy a conspicuous part in the recital, I will first relate another story which will give some idea of her character.

My travels are my memoirs. I do not therefore scruple to commence those to Russia with a history that more concerns myself personally, than the topics on which I shall have to dwell hereafter.

It was while with the army, and before his recall to Paris, that General Custine was apprised of the death of the king. His expressions of indignation on this occasion were not moderated even in presence of the commissioners of the convention. These overheard him say, ' I serve my country against foreign invasion, but who would fight for those who now govern us ? ' These words, reported to Robespierre by Thion-ville, decided the fate of the General.

My mother at that time lived in a retired manner in a village in Normandy. The moment she learnt the return of General Custine to Paris, this noble-minded young woman conceived it to be her duty to quit her asylum, and her child, who was then quite an infant, to repair to the assistance of her father-in-

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law, with whom her family had been for some years on bad terms, owing to a difference in political opinions.

It was a great trial to her to part with me, for she was a mother in the truest sense of the word ; but misfortune always had the first claim upon her heart.

Could General Custine have been saved, it would have been by the devotion and courage of his daughter-in- law. Their first interview was most touching. No sooner did the veteran recognise my mother than he believed himself safe. In fact, her youth, her extreme beauty, her mingled heroism and timidity, so interested the journalists,